Dynamic FOV visible light communications receiver for dense optical networks

This study explores how the field-of-view (FOV) of a visible light communications (VLCs) receiver can be manipulated to realise the best signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) while supporting device mobility and optimal access point (AP) selection. The authors propose a dynamic FOV receiver that changes its aperture according to receiver velocity, location, and device orientation. The D-FOV technique is evaluated through modelling, analysis, and experimentation in an indoor environment comprised of 15 VLC APs. The proposed approach is also realised as an algorithm that is studied through analysis and simulation. The results of the study indicate the efficacy of the approach including a 3X increase in predicted SNR over static FOV approaches based on measured received signal strength in the testbed. Additionally, the collected data reveal that D-FOV increases effectiveness in the presence of noise. Finally, the study describes the tradeoffs among the number of VLC sources, FOV, user device velocity, and SNR as a performance metric.Accepted manuscrip

“Does Short-term variation in fetal heart rate predict fetal acidaemia?” A Systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To evaluate the association of short-term variation (STV) of the fetal heart rate in predicting fetal acidaemia at birth. Methods: The search strategy employed searching of electronic databases (MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar) and reference lists of relevant studies. Data was extracted from studies, adhering strictly to the following criteria: singleton pregnancy at ≥ 24 weeks gestation, computerised CTG (index test) and calculation of STV before delivery. The outcome measure was arterial pH assessed in cord blood obtained at birth. Results: Meta-analysis showed moderate accuracy of STV in predicting fetal acidaemia with a sensitivity of 0.57 (95% CI: 0.45 to 0.68), specificity of 0.81 (95% CI: 0.69 to 0.89), positive likelihood ratio of 3.14 (95% CI: 2.13 to 4.63) and negative likelihood ratio of 0.58, (95% CI: 0.46 to 0.72). However, in intra-uterine growth restricted fetuses, a small improvement in detecting acidaemia was observed; with a sensitivity of 0.63, (95% CI: 0.49 to 0.75) and negative likelihood ratio of 0.50, (95% CI: 0.31 to 0.80). Conclusion: STV appears to be a moderate predictor for fetal acidaemia. However, its usefulness as a stand-alone test in predicting acidaemia in clinical setting remains to be determined

The United States Should Take a Page Out of Canadian Law When It Comes to Privacy, Genetic and Otherwise

Genetic information is intimate and telling data warranting privacy in public and private realms. The privacy protections offered in the United States and Canada vastly differ when it comes to genetic privacy. Search and seizure law mirrors the privacy gap in the countries, as well as their treatment of DNA database information. This note explores the foreshadowing of the creation of genetic privacy laws and their varying levels of protection based on the way private information was treated by state actors through search and seizure caselaw, the creation of legal precedent, and the treatment of intimate personal data in the form of blood or DNA. The note will also address where the United States Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act of 2008 fails to truly guard the American genetic information and the dangers that come with that gap

Heterogeneous integration of optical wireless communications within next generation networks

Unprecedented traffic growth is expected in future wireless networks and new technologies will be needed to satisfy demand. Optical wireless (OW) communication offers vast unused spectrum and high area spectral efficiency. In this work, optical cells are envisioned as supplementary access points within heterogeneous RF/OW networks. These networks opportunistically offload traffic to optical cells while utilizing the RF cell for highly mobile devices and devices that lack a reliable OW connection. Visible light communication (VLC) is considered as a potential OW technology due to the increasing adoption of solid state lighting for indoor illumination. Results of this work focus on a full system view of RF/OW HetNets with three primary areas of analysis. First, the need for network densication beyond current RF small cell implementations is evaluated. A media independent model is developed and results are presented that provide motivation for the adoption of hyper dense small cells as complementary components within multi-tier networks. Next, the relationships between RF and OW constraints and link characterization parameters are evaluated in order to define methods for fair comparison when user-centric channel selection criteria are used. RF and OW noise and interference characterization techniques are compared and common OW characterization models are demonstrated to show errors in excess of 100x when dominant interferers are present. Finally, dynamic characteristics of hyper dense OW networks are investigated in order to optimize traffic distribution from a network-centric perspective. A Kalman Filter model is presented to predict device motion for improved channel selection and a novel OW range expansion technique is presented that dynamically alters coverage regions of OW cells by 50%. In addition to analytical results, the dissertation describes two tools that have been created for evaluation of RF/OW HetNets. A communication and lighting simulation toolkit has been developed for modeling and evaluation of environments with VLC-enabled luminaires. The toolkit enhances an iterative site based impulse response simulator model to utilize GPU acceleration and achieves 10x speedup over the previous model. A software defined testbed for OW has also been proposed and applied. The testbed implements a VLC link and a heterogeneous RF/VLC connection that demonstrates the RF/OW HetNet concept as proof of concept

An Objective Structured Clinical Examination for Anesthetic Management of Pheochromocytoma

Pheochromocytoma, whether recognized or unrecognized, has the potential to cause severe cardiovascular complications during surgery. This paper focuses on the creation and importance of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) and a short trigger film focused on the anesthetic management of pheochromocytoma. This OSCE intends to help prepare students to recognize and treat undiagnosed or improperly managed pheochromocytoma in the didactic phase of their learning so as to better prepare them for the possible real-life scenario. The pathophysiology of pheochromocytoma regarding the catecholamines epinephrine and norepinephrine are discussed along with their potential to wreak havoc on the patient. The treatment algorithm is summarized into a concise and potentially handheld cognitive aid for quick reference of any anesthesia provider. The overriding goal of this project is to help improve patient outcomes. The participants in this OSCE were also the judges of its effectiveness. After a video and short trigger film were viewed, participants graded the project with the use of the provided survey questions. Overwhelmingly the feedback was positive, participants stating that the OSCE was beneficial in that they are now better able to identify and treat pheochromocytoma signs and symptoms

Craniofacial Changes Following Nonextraction Orthodontic Treatment: A Long-Term Cephalometric Analysis

Long-term posttreatment cephalometric changes from late adolescence into early adulthood were analyzed in this study. Lateral cephalometric radiographs from a sample of 30 Class II division 1 Caucasian females treated without extractions were evaluated at posttreatment (mean age = 15.9 years) and recall (mean age = 28.3 years). All of the subjects were treated in the private practice of a single, experienced practitioner. The cephalograms were examined to investigate changes in the cranial base, midface, maxilla, mandible, maxillomandibular relationships, dental relationships, and the soft tissue profile that occurred at an average of 12.4 years posttreatment. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated to see whether the posttreatment changes were statistically significantly different from zero. Significant posttreatment change (P \u3c 0.0001) occurred for most skeletal measurements, and this was primarily attributed to late adolescent growth. Total mandibular length increased (Cd‑Gn) by 6.6 mm on average, and total downward and forward directional growth of the maxilla (Se‑A) was 4.3 mm on average. Overall, late mandibular growth after adolescence exceeded late growth in the maxilla by nearly twice as much, which was confirmed by an increase in SNA Angle by approximately 0.4 degrees and an increase in SNB Angle by approximately 0.8 degrees. Upper Anterior Facial Height increased by 3.1 mm, and Lower Anterior Facial Height increased by 4.3 mm, making the total increase in the vertical dimension of the anterior face greater than 7 mm. Dentally, the upper and lower incisors experienced significant uprighting after treatment, which was confirmed by decreases in U1‑SN, U1‑NA, IMPA, and L1‑NB angles. Overbite and overjet increased by 0.9 mm and 1.0 mm, respectively. Maxillary and mandibular arch lengths decreased by 1.2 mm and 1.7 mm, respectively, and this was associated with mesial movement of the maxillary and mandibular first molars. Soft tissue profiles became progressively more flattened after treatment. This was disclosed by an increase in Z Angle by 4.5 degrees and increased retrusion of the upper and lower lips relative to the E Plane. The nose and soft tissue chin continued to grow forward after treatment (NaPerp‑Pr increased by 1.9 mm and W point‑Pg\u27 increased by 1.5 mm). The upper and lower lips drooped inferiorly by 1.7 mm and 2.3 mm, respectively

Material-Digital Resistance: Toward a Tactics of Visibility

This research considers the ways in which digital, networked technologies influence contemporary everyday life and creative practice. Through studio practice and writing, I ask how a contemporary condition of everyday life, characterised by the suppression of distance in speed of communication and the ubiquitous presence of surveillant apparatuses, affects the way we understand and use the image. I also consider the role of the digital image in both destabilizing and reinforcing human agency. In the past, tactical creativity was protected by a level of invisibility from the vision of authority, as described by Michel de Certeau. With the the spread of networked technologies, that invisibility is no longer possible. I take Vilem Flusser’s methodology of ‘playing against the camera’—a recipe for overcoming of the functionalist relationship between human and image technology—as a possible model for establishing my own and identifying other artists’ practices as tactics of visibility. I seek to develop a material consciousness of the digital image based on ontologies that assert the materiality of its processes and effects. In studio work, I blend manual and digital techniques for image-making in order to expose the structure of the digital image. I attempt the work of the apparatus outside the apparatus, by performing digital processes by hand, creating a model of difference and refining a physical sense of the disparity between human and computer scales through the reassertion of the body in a process of making. Using Kendall Walton’s notio of photographic transparency, I make an argument for the affective potency of the ‘poor image’, evidenced in artwork and mass media, as inseparable from its materiality. I fictionalize aspects of this transparency, depicting an impossible reality and allowing me to model present anxieties stemming from the rise of digital image production. I find that transparency and the instantaneity of the digital network are responsible in part for the obfuscation of digital materiality, as well as a confused sense of spatial relationships and personal interconnection. Image quality is politicized by connotations of credibility or agenda as it bends to the need for ever-faster communications. Though certain characteristics of the digital image encourage or sustain an ignorance with regard to its materiality, these characteristics can also be exploited to foreground materiality in art practice that aligns itself with the spirit and purpose, if not the invisibility, of de Certeau’s tactics, and the critical methods of resistance to a programme of technology suggested by Flusser

Secure smart home automation and monitoring system using internet of things

As a result of the rapid increase in the number of users in internet of things (IoT) technologies, IoT becomes one of the most important technologies that play an important and essential role in various areas of human life, it provides service over 24 hours. In this paper, the proposed system relies on the implementation of a set of sensors for the Internet of things, which accomplish tasks inside the home automation, for example, controlling the main door, boiler and lock, as well as the ability to control lighting and air, internal temperature sensors, it based on the Arduino, to collect multimedia data, and remote-controlled sensors. The proposed system provides an efficient way to control and monitor the various devices in the home for security and safety purposes, and through sensors that rely on wireless technologies. The results show the abnormal alarm notification for heathcare/security purposes with the distance as 27 cm, smoke carbon monoxide on indoor air quality as 10211 degree Co as 6256 degree, Liquefied petroleum gas as 5097 degree, the delayed 3.4 ms and network latency as 0.0012 seconds of alarm notification with long distance as 60 m and high packet delivery ratio as 98.7%

Automation conditions of mobile base station shelter via cloud and IoT computing applications

In this paper, a monitoring and controlling process of the mobile base station shelter has been implemented. We have proposed a model that is based on a firebase cloud service and the principle of the internet of things (IoT) to carry out the process of automation. In this model, we have used Raspberry Pi 4 as the main microcontroller of our system that has interacted with a DHT11 Humidity-Temperature sensor and a PIR motion sensor. It's found that the Pi4 module provides efficient analysis, low consumption of power, and effective control of the operation. It turns ON/OFF the electrical appliances automatically inside the shelter. The main advantage of our proposed model is to maintain the temperature and humidity degrees inside the shelter within the required range of operation. Another important advantage is to diminish the tall human exertion level behind the monitoring process throughout the day. The model has been tested through a localhost server via an HTML page. The last one was created with the assistance of HTML and CSS languages to be used as a local user interface. Moreover, the Raspberry Pi 4 was programmed by Python Language to catch up on the reading of the sensors, processes the data, and sends it to the cloud service. Finally, those data will be shown in real-time to the authenticated user on the database of the firebase cloud service

Summary profile of the transfer students at selected four-year educational institutions in Massachusetts.

EducationDoctor of Education (Ed.D.